18 Friday Finds and Reader Recommendations!

“…Luke’s about to learn there’s a big difference between expectations and reality. And this interview just might be the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

A book about the bravery of ordinary people, and the wounds they carry.”

Another excellent reading week ahead for us all! I just finished a super-dark one that I could barely put down (Book Review – Take Me With You by Nina G. Jones <— in case you missed it yesterday) and now I’m excited about starting another right after I post this! But… which one?

I have a bunch in my TBR list (at the top… that I want to read simultaneously) but I’m not sure if I’m in the mood to head back into a darker book or thriller, or if I’m in the mood for super-angsty romance. No matter what though, I’m in the mood for something that will keep me on the edge of my seat. You’d think I’d want calm and happy after what I just read, but I really just want to be HOOKED like that again. I want my jaw to drop.

So I shall investigate my latest TBR lists, and I’ll let you know what I come up with. That is, of course… unless one of YOU have an amazing recommendation for me. I’m always open to suggestions.

BARGAINS FINDS & READER RECOMMENDATIONS (NOTE: bargain priced when I added them, but prices can change on Amazon, so make sure to check before you finalize your order. Sales listed are for Amazon U.S., however some of the Amazon UK links also reflect the sale!):

SAINT (Boston Underworld Book 4) by A. Zavarelli <— LIVE!! DARK MAFIA ROMANCE ALERT!!! “…nothing’s going to stand in my way. Not even Rory ‘The Saint’ Brodrick.He’s a fool if he thinks he can change me. By the time I’m through with him, I’ll make his mafia look like child’s play. Cross me, Mr. Brodrick? You better cross your heart and hope to die...” (P.S. It’s super-bargain priced right now!!)

More Than Merry by Jessica Topper <— LOUDER THAN LOVE SEQUEL FREEBIE ALERT!!!! Author Jessica Topper has a Christmas novella that she’s temporarily giving away) in limited quantities to her newsletter subscribers AND a few copies for us right here on the blog!! She says: “In the spirit of the holidays, I’m giving away MORE THAN MERRY, a Love & Steel Short Story, to my newsletter subscribers! Sign up at https://tinyletter.com/jesstopper for your free copy today. Join Adrian, Kat and Abbey as they prepare for the holidays…and so much more! Perfect for fans of LOUDER THAN LOVE!” (I gave book #1 (Louder Than Love) 4.5 stars (here is my review) AND here’s the series reading order). SHE ALSO says:

“I just wanted to let you know that I tweaked the bookfunnel link I gave you for the More Than Merry free short story – I now have set it for 300 copies, exclusively for readers of your blog! …The link will work until the end of the year, or while supplies last, whichever come first. Here is the link again: http://dl.bookfunnel.com/f4lcv2vzm1“

Devil’s Vengeance: Sydney Storm MC by Nina Kevine <— LIVE!!!! BIKER BOOK ALERT!! “Dating the sister of a friend is a bad move, but falling for the sister of your club’s greatest ally is the absolute worst move. Especially when he makes it clear he doesn’t want a biker anywhere near her…“

Naughty Boss: A Novella by Whitney G. <— LIVE!!! OOOOOOOPS! SHE ACCIDENTALLY SENT HER EMAIL TO HER SEXY INFURIATING BOSS (and he’s not too impressed…) LOL!!!!! “I honestly can’t wait to see the look on his face two months from now when I tell him that I’m quitting his company and that he can kiss my ass. KISS. MY. ASS…” (the rest of the blurb gets even funnier)!!

Teresa: OMG I just 1 clicked this.This looks so good.This would be something I would do but with my luck my boss would be bald and short and ugly. LOL

Miss Hollywood (Misses Trilogy Book 3) by Marie Garner <— LIVE!! FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD STARLET & HER BEST FRIEND’S BROTHER… “On the surface her life looks perfect, but in reality she’s faltering. And the last person she expects to provide any relief is her best friend’s brother, the man who’s been tying her in knots for months…” (A series with intermingling characters, but it seems like each one can be read as a standalone).

The Royal Trade: A Billionaire Prince Romance by Erin Hayes <— LIVE!!! SHE HAS TWO BILLIONAIRE PRINCES (BROTHERS!!) TO CHOOSE FROM… “Eric, her ex-fiancée’s brother and a playboy prince himself, offers her the chance to run away from it all. Because he fell for her first. And he’s going to prove to her that she fell for the wrong prince…“

Blaire Dark Romance by Anita Grey <— LIVE!!! DARK READ ALERT!! HE BOUGHT HER AND NOW HE LOANS HER TO SOMEONE ELSE… “My name is Blaire. I’m head of security to a man who controls the Russian underworld in Europe. His name is Maksim and he’s my master. He bought me ten years ago and conditioned me with brutality to worship and protect him. And I have protected him. I’ve slain everyone who has tried to do him harm. Everyone but a man he loans me to…“

Anna and Sam: An impossible romance. by Anna Morrison <— LIVE!!! AND IT SOUNDS LIKE IT COULD TUMULTUOUS ALERT!! I’m not all that into the cover, and this author is completely new to me, but that short and not-so-sweet blurb has me intrigued. If it’s well-written, and if it’s THAT kind of story, this sounds like it could be a definite Marmy book… ”A freezing February morning and Anna, a middle aged office manager finds herself at the station waiting for her journey to begin. A journey that would take her to Hell and back. A journey of discovery which would have consequences so dire that it would destroy her life and that of all those she holds most dear.“

Jen: Some authors can write and then some authors can WRITE!! Mariana Zapata!! I cried and cried when Wait for it was over! My husband said Jennifer !! Why would you read a book with a sad ending! I said it has a happy ending! I am just so sad it is over!! I feel like I know those characters! What a beautiful book. How can you fall in love with characters in a book?? She makes it so easy! Ahhhhh!!!

Tessa: oh, Wait for It is so good. Just everything I loved about Kulti is in this book. You all must read it!

DG: Finished Wait For It by MZ! As always…her slow burns make me HAPPY! This is the first book that we get to visit with previous characters from her other her books…LOVED getting to know Trip better (and briefly visiting Iris and Dex) from Under Locke, best friend Vanessa and Aiden from WoW, and cousin Sal and Rey from Kulti. MZ wove them all in the story so effortlessly. LOVED Dallas and the way he loved her! *sighs*. What to read now???

Shamed (A Ruthless Rebels MC Novella Book One) by Ryan Michele and Chelsea Camaron <— LIVE!!! BIKER BOOK ALERT!! “…his no holds barred lifestyle DJ is the one person I should stay away from. Why then when everything crashes around me is he my only saving grace? ”

Keeping Lily: A Dark Romance by Izzy Sweet & Sean Moriarty <— HER HUSBAND TRADED HER TO A CRIME LORD ALERT!! “My husband traded me away to save his own life… And now I belong to the devil. One night and everything in my life changed. Two words and my world turned dark. “Take her.”” (super-bargain priced today!!!)

Dare Me by Rebecca Shea <— CO-WORKERS AND A DARE ALERT! “Five coworkers. Four drinks. Three glances. Two fleeting smiles. One dare. A dare that will change my life.” (super-bargain priced!!)

Eight: A pINK Novel (A pINK Series Book 2) by K.S. Thomas <— LIVE!!! BULL-RIDER TRYING TO GET OVER HER AND NOW SHE’S BACK… “…Eight seconds at a time. I can do anything eight seconds at a time. Even get over her. Riot. When she disappeared, it was all I could think to do. Keep breathing. Keep moving. Keep living. Eight seconds at a time. Until eight seconds turned to eight minutes. Eight hours. Eight days. Eight weeks. Eight months. And finally, eight years. Only now she’s back. And I know the only way I’m getting through this, is eight seconds at a time.“

Broken Play (Birmingham Rebels) by Samantha Kane <— M/M/F?? ROMANCE FOOTBALL STARS ALERT!!! This one is super-bargain priced today! “Just the thought of sharing the gorgeous yet guarded Marian drives Cass wild. At first, Beau isn’t sure she’s right for them . . . and lately, all he desires is a little alone time with Cass to explore their new intimacy. But it’s only a matter of time before Cass breaks through both of their defenses...”

Taken (Deception Book 1) by Barbara Freethy <— SHE FINDS OUT HE CONNED HER… ”Kayla Sheridan had longed for love, marriage and a family. Now, after a miraculous whirlwind courtship with the man of her dreams, she is his wife. But on their wedding night, he vanishes, leaving Kayla with the bitter realization that her desire has made her an easy mark for deception…” and then she meets HIM.

AUDIOBOOK LVERS ➜ For those going on a road trip soon, or maybe you’ve got some projects that require both hands this weekend but still allows you to “listen”… check out thefree audible trial + 2 free audiobooks deal —>

Grey: I need help!!! Question for the Audible book users- we are going to Disney/Universal (driving) for the holidays…and my husband wants to listen to books vs listening to satellite radio. He is looking for some good ones, as well as looking for a narrator that won’t drive him nutty because it’s a LONG car ride. Any suggestions for HIM?!? In the past, he has listened to Tom Clancy and Robin Cook. He’s not normally a reader (I know…the shock and horror…) so no worries that he’ll have already read/heard it. Thanks in advance, everyone I really appreciate it!

Nay: Grey–if he likes scifi, I highly recommend ‘Dawn of Destiny: Epic, Book 1’ by Lee Stephen. My husband is not a scifi guy normally, but he does love military, so since it (the ebook) was free with KU, he tried it and loved it. I remember hearing the author talk about it taking almost 5 years to produce the audiobook–it has sound effects and over 30 actors. It’s almost 10 hours long and is only $14.95 on Amazon (I say ‘only’ because an audiobook that’s so well produced, it’s usually much more), so y’all could check out the sample to see if you like the way it’s done. Grey–oh, forgot to mention. Check my top 10 audiobook list that I just mentioned. There are quite a few ‘hubby-friendly’ audiobooks/series on it, and some are cheap with Whispersync.

Grey: Nay, thank you! We are relative audiobook/whispersync newbies… I’m not really sure how it works, so any help would be appreciated. I see on Amazon that you can get 2 books for free. …What is this whispersync thing you speak of??? (see complete notice!)

Nay: Grey–when you buy the kindle book, the audiobook can also be purchased for a bargain price (Usually…. If you have kindle unlimited, the ebook is free and then you can often get the audiobook for $1.99–that’s how quite a few on my fave audiobook list are priced. With the Audible freebie audiobooks, I *think* you can only get 2 books per address, even if you have different Amazon accounts, but I’m not positive–just check it out. You know you can at least get 2 for sure, though.

bev: Grey, did you check out the Matchmaker link Maryse has? …It matches up your ebooks to the audible version and shows the sale prices. I haven’t bought any yet, but it’s kind of fun.

Hi all! What is everyone up to? awww Maryse, you added me to the Matchmaker intro… that’s so cute *giggle* I’m such an idiot haha! We have decided on Orphan X btw, I think that is one of the books that hubs is going to listen to. *If not, I’m reading it haha!* Still trying to figure out what other ones he is going to get. And get packed… oy, we’re complete nutters going away for the holidays… picture Home Alone… I’m totally picturing leaving my 11 year old home or something….

Yes, Wild Abandon Christmas is next week! I got to prescreen this one too… Maryse, what are you reading right now??? and are you going to do the 2017 challenge with us?

I KNOW someone on here must understand this. I gave my husband my Amazon wishlist as my Christmas list. My daughter, god bless her, comes to me and says she wrapped my paperbacks. I shoot to attention, knowing she didn’t box them first. So, I ask, calmly, “did you put tape on the books when you wrapped them?” She says, “very lightly.” My heart rate speeds up and my face heats, and I ask again, “ON the books?” “Very lightly.” So I have her unwrap them and she goes to tell Dad on me for being a crazy book lady. Now he’s mad at me too. IS it me? We’re talking TAPE here. On my BOOKS. I need a cocktail.

I get it R. I had a signed copy of Jasper Jones that I let a friend borrow. When she gave it back she apologized for dropping it in the bath!!!!
All the pages are stuck together. Tears were shed. Sigh. Some people just don’t get it.

I like tape too… Probably will use a fair amount of it over my mouth on this vacation…LOL!

Quick question, why did these friends not replace the books they ruined? Because common courtesy… Yikes!

I don’t really have paper copies of books anymore, especially if they were signed… That’d be awesome!!! But no paper books… makes me sad. There are some which I’d definitely want. But after buying the kindle version I can’t really justify spending the money twice, you know?

My friend who dropped my offered, but since I had the other copy I told her not to worry about it.

I LOVE my paper books. I buy the ones that are my absolute favorites, and other than that, I usually only buy the ones that are the same price or not much more than the kindle version. That way if I ever go to a signing for the author, I already have something to take. I’ve also been using bookoutlet.com a bunch lately because whoa with the prices! But it’s a hunt. And I bought 4 at CoHo’s store last weekend because they were signed and all the $$$ goes to charity.

Ugh, I’m so jealous…I want to get LOST in a book, too!! But RL sucks sweaty monkey balls so I haven’t been able to. Yeah, I know it’s a first-world problem but I also know y’all get it.

I’m getting the last of my guest preparations ready and then diving back into Take Me With You since I haven’t been able to read past the fourth page. After that one, I’m either reading Josh & Anna and Gabe & Claire (remember that one??) or Anna and Sam because that one sounds like it might just have potential. And I’m actually going to stick to my plan for once, dang it!!

I’m reading “Trick” by Jewel E Ann. I dunno why I chose that one… it was on my TBR list for some reason (must have been big-time recommended by someone here) and I trust the author’s writing and story telling.

So far it’s good. I’m at 30-something percent. It’s good, and he was a total (what rhymes with “Trick” and starts with P ) at first.

Amy, I would like to be lost in a book, but I’ve been reading samples and nothing is grabbing my attention. Jumping from Checkmate to Louder Than Love (because of free christmas book) to looking thru my TBR list for the zillionth time. Ugh, I hate it when I have some time to read but can’t decide on a book.

Cheryl I’ve been jumping around with my reads a bit too. I’ve been reading lots of the samples I’ve downloaded to my kindle, trying to clear out the trash. And yeah, I’ve deleted a LOT! Don’t know why the heck I even downloaded some of them!! Must have been recs.
What I’ve enjoyed reading most recently (apart from Wait For It) are some oldies-but-goodies that I hadn’t previously discovered. For e.g. I’ve been loving Lisa Kleypas CR Travis series (starts with Sugar Daddy). OMG those Texas men. Testosterone to the max!
Good luck picking a decent book to settle on and get your teeth into.

Debating finishing Made You Up, which I’m enjoying but not quite the right mood for. Or starting The Bad Man’s Bride, because a historical western romance does seem the right mood. Or reading either Jan or R’s rec Grace Grows or Never Stop Falling.

I already sent my best books for 2016 to Maryse but put them in genre’s instead of top ten. Oh well. And you’re right I could already add another to my list that I read last week.

Love the discussions here….make me laugh so hard. Poop references and when they are acceptable in books!!!! Too funny.

I am back reading my Horde MC Susan Fanetti books. They have become my KA’s this year. My happy place. I am also avoiding the fact I have 32 people coming for sit down lunch for Christmas day and it’s going to be 37 degrees (hot). And ‘llI have my mother ‘helping’. Its 8amandI this fact makes me feel like I need one of Amy’s cocktails. Stat.

Mind you, it was 80 degrees out today, and I was in shorts and flip-flops, but it still “feels” like winter, and I’m all about comfort food, and blankies, and snuggling and cooking. And winter-smells (like pine trees and apple cinnamon in my wax-tarts burners)

I’m here too. Procrastinating rather than cleaning my house and starting to prepare for the onslaught of relatives arriving in the next three days.
The latest weather forecast is for 40 degrees here on Christmas day (which is over 100 for you). 40 degrees and I have 30 plus for lunch. I just can’t even think about it, so I’m reading instead…as we do!

My darling brother is coming to stay. It’s his first Christmas solo since separating from his wife. I’m booking us onto this twilight cruise they do each evening near our house. Perfect if its going to be hot.

Ok. Don’t laugh. I know it’s not cold everywhere at Christmas, I mean I lived in Hawaii and it certainly wasn’t cold there! But I guess I’ve never really thought about it. So, Christmas cards in Australia (and other warm climates), are they all palm trees and beaches? There’s no snow covered hills? Icicles? Does Santa still wear the heavy suit?

Robin Santa still wears his huge red suit and beard, we spray fake snow on our windows, decorate in wintery Christmas themes (stockings hung on fireplaces etc) and burn pine scented candles, while we sweat, wearing boardshorts and flip flops. Its all very schizophrenic and confusing.
I know many families still do a traditional hot Christmas lunch…turkey etc. but our family has cold glazed hams, cold stuffed turkey and lots and lots of fresh seafood and salads. I am having a sit down more formal lunch this year though.
And I’ve decided to decorate with cactus’ and succulents in pots, copper candles, copper string twinkle lights and old bottles and glassware. I set it up the other night on white cloths and it looked awesome.
We have had beach Christmases in the past where we set up a marquee and ate casual summer fare.

That is so cool Lisa! You have to send me pics of that table!! We did the beach thing too when I lived in Hawaii, but it was just the 2 of us so we kept it simple.

This year we’re having a “Signs” Christmas. Remember the movie Signs when they think they’re going to die so everyone picks something and they cook it? We’re doing that. So far we’re having: funnel cake, mac and cheese, enchiladas, french fries and chicken parmesan. We’re staying in our PJ’s and playing Monopoly all day with football on the TV fighting my super loud Christmas music on Alexa. Oh, and bellinis. Lots of bellinis.

We do the traditional stuff here. Though, I remember growing up hating the newscasters like crazy. It’d be Christmas with a lovely 65-75 degree heat outside. So, of course, the news people would interview all those lovely tourist who would say, “The weathers so nice, we thought we’d spend Christmas at the beach. It’s so cold and snowy where we come from.” Meanwhile, I’d be chanting, SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!

Yep, Lisa, summer Christmases are all I’ve ever known too. And it’s going to be HOT in my part of Australia as well :/ Ah well, so be it. We’re going with the cold baked meats and salads too. But it’ll still be fun catching up with extended family we don’t see very often.

I love seeing everyone’s top 10 lists. Not that my tbr needs anything added but it’s great to see what you’ve all floved this year.

About Me

I am happily addicted to reading but I need to expend my book energy (especially when one puts me in an emotional frenzy - SO fun!). So, I release my feelings about the stories, by writing them down here. It's my book therapy. [ read more ]